Americana Wood Firecrackers - Housewife Eclectic

This post is sponsored by Cricut, All opinions are my own

The sun is shining, the air is warm. It is starting to feel like summer might be a real possibility around here. Summer around here means lots of days in the pool, BBQs and of course the Foruth of July.

Independence Day is by far my favorite holiday and I love decorating my house with everything Americana. From pillows to center pieces, I add a little red, white and blue everywhere. This year, the decorations are extending to our front porch with these darling 4×4 Wood Firecrackers. They are fairly easy to make with a Cricut and are the perfect addition to our porch!

You will need:

Use your Cricut to cut out a ton of stars. I did two full 12×12 vinyl sheets of stars and needed a few more. I am loving the new Design Space, it has all the features I loved of the last one and more. Set you dial to vinyl and cut the stars out.

I bought 8 foot 4×4 and then cut it down into the dimensions that I mentioned. Most hardware stores will make those two cuts for you if you don’t have a saw. Sand the posts down until they are smooth to the touch.

Paint all three posts white and allow them to dry completely.

On the middle sizes post, tape with the wide masking tape every two inches. Do the same thing on the smallest post, except leaving four inches at the top without tape,

Add the vinyl stars all over the largest post and the top four inches of the smallest post.

Make sure to smooth the vinyl down so that paint won’t get underneath it. Paint over top of the stars with blue paint and over top of the masking tape with red paint.

Allow the paint to dry completely and then peel off the stars and the tape leaving perfect stars and stripes underneath.

Take a coil of beading wire and cut it into three different sections. Hot glue them on to the top of the pillars.

Using a Cricut, made this project fast and fun! I have loved having a Cricut and have been using it for years despite having other cutting machines. These are the things that I think make a Cricut different from other machines.

The Smart Dial. With my other machine, I was constantly looking up online what I needed to set my blade to. With the Explore, there is a labeled dial right on the machine and you select paper, fabric, cardstock, iron-on, poster board or custom, right on the dial. No guessing. If I am cutting vinyl, I select vinyl. If I am cutting thick vinyl (such as glitter vinyl), I select vinyl +. It works perfect every time. If you are cutting something there isn’t a option for, the software will walk you through your selection too.

Blade Longevity. I used to go through blades all the time. ALL. THE. TIME. I went through so many that I literally had them on my Amazon Subscribe and Save to auto ship to me. I am still on my original blade with my machine, and that is through a year of parties, invites and craft projects. To me, that is very impressive.

Super User Friendly. Most of my family is not technologically savvy… at all. My sister desperately wanted a cutting machine, but was terrified of learning the software. After I used the Cricut Explore for the first time, I called her and told her I found a machine for her. The software is simple, extremely easy to use, and well labeled. Someone who isn’t great with computers or crafting could make something with the Explore.

Now I just need to make a set for the other side of the porch! How do you celebrate the 4th of July?

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

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